IND vs ENG 2022 | Rohit Sharma not ruled out yet for Edgbaston Test, reveals Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid has revealed that Rohit Sharma is still not out of the picture for selection in the one-off Test against England starting from July 1. Dravid further added that the medical team is monitoring Rohit Sharma and the Indian team still have 36 hours in hand to make the decision.
India are all set to take on England in a one-off Test from July 1 at Edgbaston. The Test match is the fifth fixture of the series played last year as it was postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19. However, the team suffered a blow when Rohit Sharma was tested Covid positive and was put into isolation. KL Rahul was the vice-captain for the series earlier but his injury ruled him out.
Recently, there were several media reports that had stated that Rohit would not be able to play the one-off Test and that Jasprit Bumrah would be appointed as the skipper for the game. Rahul Dravid has denied those claims and said that Rohit is not ruled out so far from the match and the medical team is monitoring the situation.
"Rohit is being monitored by our medical team, he has not yet been ruled out. Obviously, he needs to get the negative test to be available. So we will keep monitoring that, we've still got close to 36 hours to go. He will have a test later tonight and maybe one tomorrow morning as well. And then we'll see,” Rahul Dravid said in a virtual press conference
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Find Out"Obviously, he'll have to come out of that, and it's really up to the medical team and sports science team to decide on that. We haven't had a chance to see him, since he is in isolation. But we will keep monitoring the situation. Everyone else is fit. Ash (Ashwin) had Covid but he pulled through really well. The medical team is happy with him. Once we get an update on Rohit, there will be an official communication in this regard."
Ever since Rahul Dravid started his tenure as a head coach, India have played with multiple captains. In case Bumrah captains India in the first Test, he will be the sixth captain in 2022. Also, it will the highest number of captains for India in any calendar year since 1959.
"It is what it is. When I took the job even I wouldn't have predicted that there would be so many captains in the last six-seven months. That happens, right? In the times that we are living in, with Covid, there have been some unfortunate injuries to people. Even here, it is quite unfortunate what has happened to Rahul and Rohit in the last three weeks for us. And sometimes we've had to balance out the workloads of people. So it happens,” he said.
India have several opening options including Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, and Shubhman Gill in the squad. KL Rahul’s injury before the series handed an opportunity to Agarwal. With several options in the squad for the opening slots, the team management can have trouble making the decision. Sharing his views on the opening pair, Dravid stated that the team have clarity of thought in spite of multiple options.
"We will make a decision. We will wait (on Rohit). We have other options. Mayank is our regular opener. Bharat has opened for Andhra. Pujara has opened for India. I don’t want to give anything away but we have clarity,” he explained.